Wet/dry vacuum cleaners have long been used to pick up dry or wet debris. Typically, a wet/dry vacuum cleaner includes a hose and a nozzle fitted on the end of the hose wherein the nozzle includes a wide opening adapted to engage a surface to be cleaned. While such devices have proved to be highly useful in certain environments, for example, in home and commercial shops, their usefulness in other applications, such as to clean upholstery or fabrics, is limited.
Numerous devices have been designed to clean carpets, upholstery, draperies or the like. For example, Miller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,802, Woodhall et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,330 and Miller U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,104, all owned by the assignee of the present application, disclose various devices for dispensing cleaning fluid to a surface to be cleaned and a suction nozzle for picking up the cleaning fluid.
Other patents disclosing cleaning apparatus having cleaning fluid delivery devices and suction nozzles include Moorhead U.S. Pat. No. 965,315, Chamberlin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,579, Williams, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,124, Monson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,738, Gurstein U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,806, McCray U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,740 and Sham U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,612.